9th Sep 2021 09:46
(Alliance News) - Computacenter PLC on Thursday declared an increase in its interim dividend payout after a first half that saw profit widen substantially for the group despite some supply challenges which the firm cautioned are set to continue.
Pretax profit for the six months ended June 30 was GBP115.2 million, significantly wider than GBP72.4 million in the prior year period. The bottom line was bettered by Covid-19 related cost reductions and a further improved Services & Technology Sourcing margin.
Computacenter declared an interim dividend of 16.9 pence per share, up from 12.3p a year previously.
Shares in the FTSE-250 computer services firm were 1.5% higher in London on Thursday morning at 3,026.00 pence each.
Interim revenue hit GBP3.18 billion, a rise of 29% from GBP2.46 billion in the prior year period partly affected by the pandemic. The uplift was attributed to "significant increases" in expenditure from industrial customers.
However despite the positive financial results, Computacenter warned that ongoing supply shortages in the industry had risen to the top of the group's challenges and that it was expecting disruption to continue until well into 2022.
Looking ahead, the company earmarked further growth in the second half.
"While the second half of the year presents a more difficult comparison, the strength of our outlook means we will endeavour to beat last year's second half performance not just match it," commented Chief Executive Mike Norris.
"Computacenter is therefore well set for our seventeenth year of uninterrupted earnings per share growth."
The company noted strong demand and record order backlogs for both Technology Sourcing and Services to help sustain further growth.
By Will Paige; [email protected]
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